System and method for metallic object detection in a media transport system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for detecting the presence of metallic objects in media to be conveyed in a medium transport system are disclosed. One or more induction sensors are included in the medium transport system to detect the presence of metal in the transported media, with detection signals sent from the sensors to a system processing unit. An ultrasonic detector is employed in some embodiments to output another detection signal. One or more microphones may also be included, for detecting the sound created as the medium is being transported. The system processing unit analyzes various detection signals and analyzes computed sound values from the microphones, to determine the presence and location of metal in the media. A position jam detector may assist in determining jams of the media along the medium transport path.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/192,221, filed on Jun. 24, 2016, which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/586,300, filed on Dec. 30, 2014;both related applications are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to the field of indicating medium jams in amedium transport system, and in particular to a method and system toprevent a medium jam by detecting documents with sheets stapled or paperclipped together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In document scanners, and other media transport systems, hardcopy mediamay sometimes jam as the hardcopy media moves along the media transportpath. Objects like staples and paper clips are commonly used to holdhardcopy media containing several sheets together. Before transportingthese hardcopy media through the media transport path of documentscanners and other imaging devices, the operator typically removes thesestaples and paper clips. However, sometimes the operator fails to removethese staples and paper clips, or fails to notice them on the media,before the media are transported through the document scanner. Thesestaples and paper clips often cause damage to the hardcopy media, thetransport media path, or the document scanners itself. In addition, iftwo or more hardcopy media attached by a staple or paperclip aretransported through the media transport path then information can belost due to hardcopy media not be imaged properly.

While others have implemented systems to check for staples beforedocuments go from an input tray into a scanner device, these systems arelimited in the scope of detection and may miss staples, paper clips, orother objects included in media transported into the system, and thusjams may still occur. In addition, these systems do not provide a way tolocate the position of a jam within the media transport system. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,027 includes a document handler system witha staple detector to detect the presence of staples in documents loadedinto an input tray. However, this system only looks for staples inpredetermined areas of the document, and only looks for staples whilethe documents are in the input tray. Some documents do not fit into theinput tray, and thus no staples in these documents would be detectedbefore they are passed into the scanner. Additionally, many types ofdocuments, including those of varying sizes, do not have a “preselected”area for a staple. Thus, this system may miss staples in documents wherestaples are present, but are not in a preselected position on thedocument that the staple detector is monitoring.

There remains a need for a simple, fast and robust technique to monitorhardcopy media input to a media transport system for staples, paperclips, or other metal objects, and to indicate the location of hardcopymedia jams along a hardcopy media transport path should a jam occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method and system of detectinghardcopy media that contain staples, paper clips or other metallicbinding clips before the hardcopy media is transported along a mediumtransport path in a document scanner, or other imaging or mediatransport device. Document scanners typically include one or morerollers, driven by a motor, for use in conveying the medium along themedium transport path. One or more metal detectors are included in thescanner to detect the presence of metal in the medium being transported.The metal detectors produce signals representing the presence of metalin the proximity of the sensor, which are sent to a processor. Theprocessor analyzes the signals, and produces proximity, duration, and/orintensity values therefrom. One or more microphones are also included inthe scanner, and detect the sound created as the medium is beingtransported. The microphones produce signals representing the sound,which are sent to the processor. The processor computes sound valuesfrom the signals, and analyzes the computed sound values along with theproximity, duration, and/or intensity values in order determine if theconveyance of the medium along the transport path should be stopped dueto the presence of metal in the media or a jam occurring within themedium transport path.

The processor may be included in a computer system that is part of, orin communication with, the scanner system, including the microphones andmetal detectors therein. The processor may execute computer programinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium whichcause the processor to acquire signals from the metal detectors as wellas sound signals from the plurality of microphones responsive to thesound generated by a medium being transported along a medium transportin the scanner. The computer-readable medium includes furtherinstructions enabling the processor to determine whether metal ispresent in the media being transported, and whether a jam has occurredbased on the sound signal values according to a detection method, asdescribed in detail below.

Based on the proximity, duration, and/or intensity values and the soundsignals received, the processor may change the detection method basedupon sensed characteristics of the media. For example, if the proximity,duration, and/or intensity values indicate the presence of metal, theloudness thresholds for indicating a jam may be lowered.

The one or more microphones can detect the sound of a medium jammingover a larger physical area than optical or mechanic methods, which arelocalized in nature. As a result, one microphone can replace the needfor several optical or mechanic sensors. By using multiple microphones,a larger area can be monitored and signals from the multiple microphonescan be compared against each other to determine the location of thesound source better than one microphone could. Determining the locationof the noise source may be helpful in determining the location of thejam as it is typical for the jam to cause the detected noise, and thusthe noise source is often the jam location. However, detecting a jamusing only signals from the microphones relies on the noise generated bythe hardcopy media wrinkling. When the hardcopy media is bound tightlytogether with staples, paper clips or other metallic binding clips, thehardcopy media does not always generate sufficient loudness for theprocessor to stop the hardcopy media transport path based on an analysisof the signals received. In addition, a single hardcopy media with astaple or paper clips or other metallic binding clips may not make anyadditional noise. By including a metal detector, the conveyance of amedium along the transport path can be stopped before hardcopy mediathat contain staples, paperclips, or other metallic binding clips aretransported too far into the medium transport path, thus lessening thechance of a jam occurring. In addition, by adjusting the soundthresholds when media containing staples, paperclips, or other metallicobjects are detected within the system, the medium transport system maybe able to better determine when a jam is occurring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram showing the components of mediumtransport system in the form of an imaging scanner.

FIG. 2 is a high-level diagram showing the components of a mediumtransport system.

FIG. 3 is a high-level diagram showing a flattened view of thecomponents of a medium transport system.

FIG. 4 is an example of a block diagram which shows the generalconfiguration of a medium transport system.

FIGS. 5A-C are illustrations showing different examples of metalattached to hardcopy media.

FIGS. 6A-C are examples of the waveforms produced from examples in FIGS.5A-C.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process for detecting metallicobjects.

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing the relationship between sound profileand metallic detection.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a processing for detecting sound jamscombined with metal detection processing output.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an alternative location of metallicdetector.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a metallic patch code andcorresponding waveform.

FIG. 12 is an example of the waveforms produced from examples in FIG.11.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment using asegmented induction detector.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment using amultiple induction detectors to find location of metallic objects.

FIG. 15 is an illustration showing the relationship between metallicobjects location and induction detector layout in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of in FIG.14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a media transport system, and inparticular to a system and method for detecting staples, paper clips,and other metallic objects attached to hardcopy media within the mediatransport system. In addition to detecting metallic objects, the systemalso includes microphones to detect sound profiles of documents beingtransported through the media transport system, and analyzes these soundprofiles to determine the occurrence and location of jams. The methodmay be carried out using a process stored as instructions on a computerprogram product. The computer program product can include one or morenon-transitory, tangible, computer readable storage medium, for example;magnetic storage media such as magnetic disk (such as a floppy disk) ormagnetic tape; optical storage media such as optical disk, optical tape,or machine readable bar code; solid-state electronic storage devicessuch as random access memory (RAM), or read-only memory (ROM); or anyother physical device or media employed to store a computer programhaving instructions for controlling one or more computers to practicethe method according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a medium transport system 10 that includes a scanner base100, a scanner pod 180, an input tray 110, an output tray 190, and anoperation control panel 122. The scanner pod 180 covers the top surfaceof the medium transport system 10 and connects to the scanner base 100with hinges. The hinges allow the document scanner to be opened andclosed when there is a media jam within the scanner or when the scannerneeds to be cleaned.

The input tray 110 is connected to the scanner base 100 with hinges,allowing the input tray 110 to be opened and closed as illustrated by anarrow A3. The input tray 110 may be opened at times of scanning andclosed when the medium transport system 10 is not in use. When the inputtray 110 is closed the footprint of the medium transport system 10 canbe reduced. Hardcopy media 115 to be scanned is placed into the inputtray 110. Examples of the hardcopy media are paper documents,photographic film, and magnetic recording media. The top hardcopy medium117 is the medium at the top of a stack of hardcopy media 115, and isthe next hardcopy medium to be pulled into the scanner by the urgingroller 120. The input tray 110 is provided with input side guides 130 aand 130 b, which can be moved in a direction perpendicular to atransport direction of the hardcopy media 115. By positioning the sideguides 130 a and 130 b to match with the width of the hardcopy media115, it is possible to limit the movement of the hardcopy media 115 inthe input tray 110 as well as set the position (left, right or centerjustified) of the top hardcopy medium 117 within the media transportpath. The input side guides 130 a and 130 b may be referred tocollectively as the input side guides 130. The input tray 110 may beattached to a motor (not shown) that causes the input tray 110 to raisetop hardcopy medium 117 to the urging roller 120 for scanning or tolower the input tray 110 to allow additional hardcopy media 115 to beadded to the input tray 110.

The output tray 190 is connected to the scanner pod 180 by hinges,allowing the angle of the output tray 190 to be adjusted as shown by thearrow marked A1. The output tray 190 is provided with output side guides160 a and 160 b which can be moved in a direction perpendicular to atransport direction of the hardcopy media 115, that is, to the left andright directions from the transport direction of the hardcopy media 115.By positioning the output side guides 160 a and 160 b to match with thewidth of the hardcopy media 115, it is possible to limit the movement ofthe output hardcopy media 150 in the output tray 190. The output sideguides 160 a and 160 b may be referred to collectively as the outputside guides 160. An output tray stop 170 is provided to stop the tophardcopy medium 117 after being ejected from the output transport roller140. When the output tray 190 is in the up state as shown in FIG. 1, theejected hardcopy media is trail-edge aligned. In the down state, theejected hardcopy media is lead-edge aligned against the output tray stop170.

The operator control panel 122 is attached to the scanner base 100 orscanner pod 180, and can be tilted as shown by the arrow marked A2 toallow optimal positioning for the operator. An operation input 125 isarranged on the surface of the operator control panel 122, allowing theoperator to input commands such as start, stop, and override. Theoperation input 125 may be one or more buttons, switches, portions of atouch-sensitive panel, selectable icons on a visual display 128, or anyother selectable input mechanism. The override command may allow theoperator to temporarily disable multi-feed detection, jam detection, orother features of the scanner while scanning. The operator control panel122 also includes an operator display 128 that allows information andimages to be presented to the operator. As noted above, the operatordisplay 128 could include selectable icons relating to commands andoperations of the media transport device. The operator control panel 122may also contain speakers and LEDs (not shown) to provide additionalfeedback to the operator.

FIG. 2 illustrates the transport path inside of the medium transportsystem 10. The transport path inside of the medium transport system 10has multiple rollers, including urging rollers 120, feed rollers 223,separator rollers 220, take-away rollers 260, transport rollers 265, andan output transport roller 140. The urging rollers 120 and feed roller223 may be referred to collectively as the feed module 225. Microphones200 a, 200 b, 200 c, a first media sensor 205, a second media sensor210, an ultrasonic transmitter 282, and an ultrasonic receiver 284 arepositioned along the media transport path 290 to sense media andconditions within the media transport path 290 as the top hardcopymedium 117 is transported through the system. A pod image acquisitionunit 230 and a base image acquisition unit 234 are included to captureimages of the media.

The top surface of the scanner base 100 forms a lower media guide 294 ofthe media transport path 290, while the bottom surface of the scannerpod 180 forms and upper media guide 292 of the media transport path 290.A delta wing 185 may be provided which helps to guide the media from theinput tray into the media transport path 290. As shown in FIG. 2, thedelta wing may be a removable section of the upper media guide 292,transitioning from the upper media guide 292 to the scanner cabinetry ofthe pod 180. The delta wing may be angled to allow microphones 200 A, Bto point into the input tray 110, thereby improving signal pickup.

In FIG. 2, the arrow A4 shows the transport direction that the hardcopymedia travels within the media transport path 290. As used herein, theterm “upstream” refers to a position relative to the transport directionA4 that is closer to the input tray 110, while “downstream” refers to aposition relative to the transport direction A4 that is closer to theoutput tray 190. The first media sensor 205 has a detection sensor whichis arranged at an upstream side of the urging roller 120. The firstmedia sensor 205 may be mounted within the input tray 110, and detectsif hardcopy media 115 is placed on the input tray 110. The first mediadetector 205 can be of any form known to those skilled in the artincluding, but not limited to, contact sensors and optical sensors. Thefirst media sensor 205 generates and outputs a first media detectionsignal which changes in signal value depending on whether or not mediais placed on the input tray 110.

The first microphone 200 a, second microphone 200 b, and thirdmicrophone 200 c are examples of sound detectors that detect the soundgenerated by the top hardcopy medium 117 during transport through themedia transport path 290. The microphones generate and output analogsignals representative of the detected sound. The microphones 200 a and200 b are arranged to the left and right of the urging rollers 120,while fastened to the delta wing 185 at the front of the scanner pod180. The microphones 200 a and 200 b are mounted so as to point downtowards the input tray 110. To enable the sound generated by the tophardcopy medium 117 during transport of the media to be more accuratelydetected by the first microphone 200 a and the second microphone 200 b,a hole is provided in the delta wing 185 facing the input tray 110. Themicrophones 200 a and 200 b may be mounted to the delta wing 185 using avibration reducing gasket. The third microphone 200 c is at thedownstream side of the feed roller 223 and the separator roller 220while fastened to the upper media guide 292. A hole for the thirdmicrophone 200 c is provided in the upper media guide 292 facing mediatransport path 290. The microphone 200 c may be mounted in the uppermedia guide 292 using a vibration reducing gasket. As an example, themicrophones may be MEMS microphones mounted flush to a baffle withisolator material to reduce vibration transferring from the baffle tothe MEMS. By mounting the MEMS flush, the amount of internal machinenoise behind the microphone that can be detected by the microphone isreduced.

The second media detector 210 is arranged at a downstream side of thefeed roller 223 and the separator roller 220 and at an upstream side ofthe take-away rollers 260. The second media detector 210 detects ifthere is a hardcopy media present at that position. The second mediadetector 210 generates and outputs a second media detection signal whichchanges in signal value depending on whether hardcopy media is presentat that position. The second media detector 210 can be of any form knownto those skilled in the art including, but not limited to, contactsensors, motion sensor and optical sensors.

An induction sensor 215 is arranged near the near the entry of point ofmedia from the input tray into the document transport path. Inparticular, the induction sensor 215 may be arranged at a downstreamside of the feed roller 223 and the separator roller 220, and at anupstream side of the second media detector 210. The induction sensor 215detects if there is any metallic material, including, but not limitedto, paper clips or staples, attached to the hardcopy media. Theinduction sensor 215 generates and outputs a metal detection signalwhich changes in signal value depending on whether metallic material ispresent. The induction sensor 215 can be of any form known to thoseskilled in the art including, but not limited to, inductive sensors orproximity sensors.

An ultrasonic transmitter 282 and an ultrasonic receiver 284, togetherforming an ultrasonic sensor 280, are arranged near the media transportpath 290 so as to face each other across the media transport path 290.The ultrasonic transmitter 282 transmits an ultrasonic wave that passesthrough the top hardcopy medium 117 and is detected by the ultrasonicreceiver 284. The ultrasonic receiver then generates and outputs asignal, which may be an electrical or digital signal, corresponding tothe detected ultrasonic wave.

A plurality of ultrasonic transmitters 282 and ultrasonic receivers 284may be used. In this situation, the ultrasonic transmitters 282 arepositioned across the lower media guide 294 perpendicular to thetransport direction as marked by arrow A4 while ultrasonic receivers 284are positioned across the upper media guide 292 perpendicular to thetransport direction as marked by arrow A4.

A pod image acquisition unit 230 is included that has an image sensor,such as a CIS (contact image sensor) or CCD (charged coupled device).Similarly, a base image acquisition unit 234 is included that has animage sensor, such as a CIS or CCD.

As the top hardcopy medium 117 travels through the media transport path290, it passes the pod imaging aperture 232 and the base imagingaperture 236. The pod imaging aperture 232 is a slot in the upper mediaguide 292 while the base imaging aperture 236 is a slot in the lowermedia guide 294. The pod image acquisition unit 230 images the topsurface of the top hardcopy medium 117 as it passes the pod imagingaperture 232 and outputs an image signal. The base image acquisitionunit 234 images the bottom surface of the top hardcopy medium 117 as itpasses the base imaging aperture 236 and outputs an image signal. It isalso possible to configure the pod image acquisition unit 230 and thebase image acquisition unit 234 such that only one surface of the tophardcopy medium 117 is imaged.

The top hardcopy medium 117 is moved along a media transport path 290 bysets of rollers. The sets of rollers are composed of a drive roller andnormal force roller. The drive roller is driven by a motor whichprovides the driving force to the roller. The normal force roller is afreewheeling roller that provides pressure to capture the top hardcopymedium 117 between the drive roller and normal force roller. In themedium transport system 10, the initial drive and normal force rollersthat grab the top hardcopy medium 117 within the media transport path290 are referred to as take-away rollers 260. The additional drive andnormal force roller pairs along the media transport path 290 arereferred to as transport rollers 265. The rollers may be driven by asingle motor where all the rollers start and stop together.Alternatively the rollers may be grouped together where each group isdriven by its own motor. This allows different motor groups to bestarted and stopped at different times or run at different speeds.

The medium transport system 10 may have an output transport roller 140.The output transport roller 140 is connected to a separate drive motorthat either speeds-up the top hardcopy medium 117 or slows down the tophardcopy medium 117 for modifying the way the output hardcopy media 150is placed into the output tray 190, as described in detail in U.S. Pat.No. 7,828,279, incorporated herein by reference.

Hardcopy media 115 placed on the input tray 110 is transported betweenthe lower media guide 294 and the upper media guide 292 in the transportdirection shown by arrow A4 by rotation of the urging roller 120. Theurging roller 120 pulls the top hardcopy medium 117 out of the inputtray 110 and pushes it into the feed roller 223. The separator roller220 resists the rotation of the feed roller 223, such that when theinput tray 110 has a plurality of hardcopy media 115 placed on it, onlythe top hardcopy medium 117 which is in contact with the feed roller 223is selected for feeding into the media transport path 290. The transportof the hardcopy media 115 below the top hardcopy medium 117 isrestricted by the separator roller 220 to prevent feeding more than onemedium at a time, which is referred to as a multi-feed.

The top hardcopy medium 117 is fed between the take-away rollers 260 andis transported through the transport rollers 265 while being guided bythe lower media guide 294 and the upper guide 292. The top hardcopymedium 117 is sent past the pod image acquisition unit 230 and the baseimage acquisition unit 234 for imaging. The top hardcopy medium 117 isthen ejected into the output tray 190 by the output transport roller140. In addition to microphones 200 a, 200 b, and 200 c, a microphone297 may be provided near the exit of the transport path. This microphone297 detects the sounds of the hardcopy media towards the end of thetransport path, and as the media is output into the output tray. Thesedetected sounds may be used to detect jams occurring in the output trayor as documents are exiting the media transport device. A systemprocessing unit 270 monitors the state of the medium transport system 10and controls the operation of the medium transport system 10 asdescribed in more detail below.

Although FIG. 2 shows the urging roller 120 above the stack of hardcopymedia 115 to select the top hardcopy media 117, in a feedingconfiguration often referred to as a top feeding mechanism, otherconfigurations may be used. For example, the urging roller 120, feedroller 223 and separator roller 220 can be inverted such that the urgingroller selects the hardcopy media at the bottom of the hardcopy mediastack 115. In this configuration, microphone 200 a and 200 b may bemoved into the scanner base 100.

In addition, a hardcopy media preparing station may be provided thatallows an operator to check hardcopy media for metallic objects beforeconveying the hardcopy media into the medium transport system. Thehardcopy media preparing system may be part of the input tray, or couldbe a separate preparation area. The hardcopy media preparation stationmay include one or more induction sensors located within a tray on thepreparation station or within a sensing arm. When located in a sensingarm, the operator may move the sensing arm around media on thepreparation station, with the induction sensors in the arm providingsignals to generate an alert when a metallic object within the media isfound. Once metallic objects have been detected and located, they can beremoved manually by the operator or through an automated process.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the medium transport system 10 as seen fromthe viewpoint shown by the direction arrow A5 in FIG. 2. As shown inFIG. 3, the first microphone 200 a is provided to the left of the urgingroller 120 and feed rollers 223 along the delta wing 185. The secondmicrophone 200 b is provided to the right of the urging roller 120 andfeed rollers 223 along the delta wing. The placement of microphones 200a and 200 b capture sound from the top hardcopy medium 117 as it isbeing urged into the feed roller 223 by the urging roller 120. The thirdmicrophone 200 c is preferably located slightly behind and downstream ofthe feed rollers 223. The placement of microphone 200 c captures soundfrom the top hardcopy medium 117 as it passes the feed roller 223 andbefore reaching the take-away rollers 260. The induction sensor 215 maybe mounted in the lower transport guide 294 at the entrance of the mediatransport path 290 to detect metallic objects as early as possible. Onemore induction sensors 215 may also be included at various otherpositions along the transport path. Since there are various metalcomponents within the scanner base 100 and scanner pod 180, the area ofdetection of the induction sensor 215 is selected to be small to avoidpicking up the metal components. Thus, the induction sensor 215 may beplaced along the back side of the separator roller 220 where the tophardcopy media 117 position is controlled by the feed roller 223 andseparator roll 220 such that hardcopy media 117 is within the field ofthe induction sensor 215.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram which shows the schematic illustration of amedium transport system 10. The pod image acquisition unit 230 isfurther composed of a pod image device 400, pod image A/D converter 402and pod pixel correction 404. As noted above, the pod image device 400has a CIS (contact image sensor) of an equal magnification opticalsystem type which is provided with an image capture element using CMOS(complementary metal oxide semiconductors) which are arranged in a linein the main scan direction. As noted above, instead of a CIS, it is alsopossible to utilize an image capturing sensor of a reduced magnificationoptical system type using CCD's (charge coupled devices). The podimaging A/D converter 402 converts an analog image signal which isoutput from the pod image device 400 to generate digital image datawhich is then output to the pod pixel correction 404. The pod pixelcorrection 404 corrects for any pixel or magnification abnormalities.The pod pixel correction 404 outputs the digital image data to the imagecontroller 440 within the system processing unit 270. The base imageacquisition unit 234 is further composed of a base image device 410,base image A/D converter 412 and base pixel correction 414. The baseimage device 410 has a CIS (contact image sensor) of an equalmagnification optical system type which is provided with an imagecapture element using CMOS's (complementary metal oxide semiconductors)which are arranged in a line in the main scan direction. As noted above,instead of a CIS, it is also possible to utilize an image capturingsensor of a reduced magnification optical system type using CCD's(charge coupled devices). The base imaging A/D converter 412 converts ananalog image signal which is output from the base image device 410 togenerate digital image data which is then output to the base pixelcorrection 414. The base pixel correction 414 corrects for any pixel ormagnification abnormalities. The base pixel correction 414 outputs thedigital image data to the image controller 440 within the systemprocessing unit 270. Digital image data from the pod image acquisitionunit 230 and the base image acquisition unit 234 will be referred to ascaptured images.

The operator configures the image controller 440 to perform the requiredimage processing on the captured images either through the operatorcontrol panel 122 or network interface 445. As the image controller 440receives the captured images, it sends the captured images to the imageprocessing unit 485 along with a job specification that defines theimage processing that should be performed on the captured images. Theimage processing unit 485 performs the requested image processing on thecaptured images and outputs processed images. The functions of imageprocessing unit 485 can be provided using a single programmableprocessor or by using multiple programmable processors, including one ormore digital signal processor (DSP) devices. Alternatively, the imageprocessing unit 485 can be provided by custom circuitry (e.g., by one ormore custom integrated circuits (ICs) designed specifically for use indigital document scanners), or by a combination of programmableprocessor(s) and custom circuits.

The image controller 440 manages image buffer memory 475 to hold theprocessed images until the network controller 490 is ready to send theprocessed images to the network interface 445. The image buffer memory475 can be internal or external memory of any form known to thoseskilled in the art including, but not limited to, SRAM, DRAM, or Flashmemory. The network interface 445 can be of any form known to thoseskilled in the art including, but not limited to, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fior other data network interface circuit. The network interface 445connects the medium transport system 10 with a computer or network (notshown) to send and receive the captured image. The network interface 445also provides a means to remotely control the medium transport system 10by supplying various types of information required for operation of themedium transport system 10. The network controller 490 manages thenetwork interface 445 and directs network communications to either theimage controller 440 or a machine controller 430.

A first sound acquisition unit 420 a includes the first microphone 200a, a first sound analog processing 422 a, and a first sound A/DConverter 424 a, and generates a sound signal responsive to the soundpicked up by the first microphone 200 a. The first sound analogprocessing 422 a filters the signal which is output from the firstmicrophone 200 a by passing the signal through a low-pass or band-passfilter to select the frequency band of the interest. The first soundanalog processing 422 a also amplifies the signal and outputs it to thefirst sound A/D converter 424 a. The first sound A/D converter 424 aconverts the analog signal which is output from the first sound analogprocessing 422 a to a digital first source signal and outputs it to thesystem processing unit 270. As described herein, outputs of the firstsound acquisition unit 420 a are referred to as the “left sound signal.”The first sound acquisition unit 420 a may comprise discrete devices ormay be integrated into a single device such as a digital output MEMSmicrophone.

A second sound acquisition unit 420 b includes the second microphone 200b, a second sound analog processing 422 b, and a second sound A/DConverter 424 b, and generates a sound signal responsive to the soundpicked up by the second microphone 200 b. The second sound analogprocessing 422 b filters the signal which is output from the secondmicrophone 200 b by a passing the signal through a low-pass or band-passfilter to select the frequency band of the interest. The second soundanalog processing 422 b also amplifies the signal and outputs it to thesecond sound A/D converter 424 b. The second sound A/D converter 424 bconverts the analog signal which is output from the second sound analogprocessing 422 b to a digital second source signal and outputs it to thesystem processing unit 270. As described herein, outputs of the secondsound acquisition unit 420 b outputs will be referred to as the “rightsound signal.” The second sound acquisition unit 420 b may comprisediscrete devices or may be integrated into a single device such as adigital output MEMS microphone.

A third sound acquisition unit 420 c includes the third microphone 200c, a third sound analog processing 422 c, and a third sound A/DConverter 424 c, and generates a sound signal responsive to the soundpicked up by the third microphone 200 c. The third sound analogprocessing 422 c filters the signal which is output from the thirdmicrophone 200 c by a passing the signal through a low-pass or band-passfilter to select the frequency band of the interest. The third soundanalog processing 422 c also amplifies the signal and outputs it to thethird sound A/D converter 424 c. The third sound A/D converter 424 cconverts the analog signal which is output from the third sound analogprocessing 422 c to a digital third source signal and outputs it to thesystem processing unit 270. As described herein, outputs of the thirdsound acquisition unit 420 c outputs will be referred to as the “centersound signal.” The third sound acquisition unit 420 c may comprisediscrete devices or may be integrated into a single device such as adigital output MEMS microphone.

Below, the first sound acquisition unit 420 a, second sound acquisitionunit 420 b and the third sound acquisition unit 420 c may be referred tooverall as the sound acquisition unit 420.

A field detection unit 432 includes the induction sensor 215, fieldsignal processing 434, and a field A/D Converter 436, and generates asignal responsive to the electromagnetic field picked up by theinduction sensor 215. The field signal processing 434 filters andremoves noise from the signal which is output from the induction sensor215 by passing the signal through a filter to shape or smooth thesignal. The field signal processing 434 also amplifies the signal andoutputs it to the field A/D Converter 436. The field A/D Converter 436converts the analog signal which is output from the field signalprocessing 434 to a digital metallic detection signal and outputs it tothe system processing unit 270. The field detection unit 432 maycomprise discrete devices or may be integrated into a single device suchas a digital output module or ASIC device.

The transport driver unit 465 includes one or more motors and controllogic required to enable the motors to rotate the urging roller 120, thefeed roller 223, the take-away rollers 260, and the transport rollers265 to transport the top hardcopy medium 117 through the media transportpath 290.

The system memory 455 has a RAM (random access memory), ROM (read onlymemory), or other memory device, a hard disk or other fixed disk device,or flexible disk, optical disk, or other portable storage device.Further, the system memory 455 stores a computer program, database, andtables, which are used in various control functions of the mediumtransport system 10. Furthermore, the system memory 455 may also be usedto store the captured images or processed images.

The system processing unit 270 is provided with a CPU (centralprocessing unit) and operates based on a program which is stored in thesystem memory 455. The system processing unit 270 may be a singleprogrammable processor or may be comprised of multiple programmableprocessors, a DSP (digital signal processor), LSI (large scaleintegrated circuit), ASIC (application specific integrated circuit),and/or FPGA (field-programming gate array). The system processing unit270 is connected to the operation input 125, the operator display 128,first media sensor 205, second media sensor 210, ultrasonic sensor 280,pod image acquisition unit 230, base image acquisition unit 234, firstsound acquisition unit 420 a, second sound acquisition unit 420 b, thirdsound acquisition unit 420 c, image processing unit 485, image buffermemory 475, network interface 445, system memory 455, transport driverunit 465.

The system processing unit 270 further controls the transport driverunit 465, and the pod image acquisition unit 230 and base imageacquisition unit 234 to acquire captured images. Further, the systemprocessing unit 270 has a machine controller 430, an image controller440, a sound jam detector 450, a position jam detector 460, a metaldetector 495, and a multi-feed detector 470. These units are functionalmodules which are realized by software operating on a processor. Theseunits may also be implemented on independent integrated circuits, amicroprocessor, DSP or FPGA.

The sound jam detector 450 executes the sound jam detection processing.In the sound jam detection processing, the sound jam detector 450determines whether a jam has occurred based on a first sound signalacquired from the first sound acquisition unit 420 a, a second soundsignal acquired from the second sound acquisition unit 420 b and/or athird sound signal acquired from the third sound acquisition unit 420 c.Situations in which the sound jam detector 450 determines that a mediajam has occurred based on each signal, or a combination of signals, maybe referred to as a sound jam.

The position jam detector 460 executes the position jam detectionprocessing. The position jam detector 460 uses second media detectionsignals acquired from the second media sensor 210, an ultrasonicdetection signal acquired from the ultrasonic detector 280, and a timerunit 480, started when the transport driver unit 465 enables the urgingrollers 120 and the feed rollers 223 to feed the top hardcopy medium117, to determine whether a jam has occurred. The position jam detector460 can also use pod image acquisition unit 230 and base imageacquisition unit 234 to detect the lead-edge and trail-edge of the tophardcopy media 117. In this case, the image controller 440 outputs alead-edge and trail-edge detection signal which is combined with thetimer unit 480 to determine that a jam has occurred if the lead-edge andtrail-edge detection signal are not obtained within a predefined amountof time. Situations in which the position jam detector 460 determinesthat a media jam has occurred based on the second media detectionsignal, the ultrasonic detection signal, pod image acquisition unit 230or base image acquisition unit 234 may be referred to as a position jam.

The multi-feed detector 470 executes multi-feed detection processing. Inthe multi-feed detection processing, the multi-feed detector 470determines whether the feed module 225 has allowed multiple hardcopymedia to enter the media transport path 290 based on an ultrasoundsignal acquired from the ultrasonic detector 280. Situations in whichthe multi-feed detector 470 determines that multiple hardcopy mediaentered the media transport path 290 may be referred to as a multi-feed.

The metal detector 495 executes the metallic detection processing. Themetal detector 495 uses metallic detection signals acquired from thefield detection unit 432, to determine whether the hardcopy mediacontains metallic material. Situations in which the metal detector 495determines that the hardcopy media entered the media transport path 290contains metallic material may be referred to as a metal detectexception.

The machine controller 430 determines whether an abnormality condition,such as a medium jam, has occurred along a media transport path 290. Themachine controller 430 determines that an abnormality has occurred whenthere is at least one of a sound jam, a position jam, metal detectexception, and/or a multi-feed condition. When an abnormality isdetected, the machine controller 430 takes action based on the operatorspredefined configuration for abnormality conditions. One example of apredefined configuration would be for the machine controller 430 toinform the transport driver unit 465 to disable the motors. At the sametime, the machine controller 430 notifies the user of media jam usingthe operator control panel 122. Alternatively, the machine controllermay display an abnormality condition on the operator display 128 orissue an abnormality condition notice over the network interface,allowing the operator to manually take action to resolve the condition.

When a medium jam along a media transport path 290 has not occurred, theimage controller 440 causes the pod imaging acquisition unit 230 and thebase imaging acquisition unit 234 to image the top hardcopy medium 117to acquire a captured image. The pod imaging acquisition unit 230 imagesthe top hardcopy medium 117 via the pod image device 400, pod image A/DConverter 402, and pod pixel correction 404 while the base imagingacquisition unit 234 images the top hardcopy medium 117 via the baseimage device 410, base image A/D converter 412, and base pixelcorrection 414.

In some cases, it is desirable to back out the media when an abnormalcondition, such as a medium jam, has occurred along the media transportpath 290 by having the transport driver unit 465 reverse the directionof motors. However, if the metal detector 495 generates a metal detectexception, the hardcopy media 115 may be stapled or have a paper clipattached. When a metallic object such as a staple or paper clip ispresent, potentially more damage could be done to the hardcopy media 115or to the media transport path 290 by reversing the direction of motors.By using the induction sensors 215 to confirm that a metallic object ispresent, the system processing unit 270 can disable the reversing of thetransport direction and the user can be notified to manually clear thetransport path 290 through the operator control panel 122, therebyeliminating the risk of further damage to either the hardcopy media 115or to the media transport path 290.

The mounting of the induction sensors 215 in the media transport path290 can be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, the inductionsensors 215 may be molded directly into the lower media guide 294,mounted under lower media guide 294, or mounted in the upper media guide292. When mounted at one or more of these positions, the sensitivity ofthe sensor would be fixed if the induction sensors 215 did not supportmultiple sensitivity levels.

Alternatively, a slot can be created in, for example, the lower mediaguide 294. This slot may allow the induction sensors 215 to be molded tofit into the slot such that they can be quickly and easily inserted intoa media transport path 290. A wiring harness or connector could beformed into one end of the induction sensors 215 to allow it to beconnected to system harnessing within the medium transport system 10.The induction sensors 215 may be keyed with locking tabs to lock theinduction sensors 215 into the correct position and to securely hold theinduction sensors 215 in lower media guide 294. The edge of theinduction sensors 215 may be mounted flush with the lower media guide294 or the leading edge of the induction sensors 215 could be beveled toreduce the chance hardcopy media 115 would stub or jam as it istransported past the induction sensors 215. Where the medium transportsystem 10 is configured without induction sensors 215, a blank fillercan be inserted into the lower media guide 294 to fill the slot.

By allowing the induction sensors 215 to be easily added or removed,induction sensors with different sensitivities could be installeddepending on the application. For example, a casino may want to makesure the cards within a deck are authentic and have not been temperedwith. The cards could be marked with a metallic ink, foil, or similarmaterial. The cards could then be scanned with medium transport system10 to verify that the deck of cards has not been tampered with. Asanother example, employing a system that allows easy addition or removalof induction sensors having different sensitivities could be used toassist in detecting counterfeit currency or documents by verifyingmetallic strips embedded within the documents. The image controller 440may configure the job specification to enable the image processing unit485 to perform further image analysis to check for counterfeit currencyor document forgery. The rollers within the medium transport system 10may be mounted on metal shafts. One or more induction sensors 215 may bemounted near one or more of the metal shafts such that the inductionsensors 215 detect the displacement of the shafts as the hardcopy media115 is transported through the media transport path 290. By processingthe information regarding the displacement of the shafts, the locationof the lead-edge and trail-edge of the hardcopy media 115 within theentire media transport path 290 may be determined. This locationinformation may be sent to the position jam detector 460 that executesthe position jam detection processing. This processing allows the systemto track the location of the hardcopy media 115 within the mediatransport path 290 to determine whether a positional jam has occurred.The displacement of the shafts may also be measured using hall effectsensors, optical sensors, or any other sensor configured to detectmovement of the shaft.

In addition, the amount of displacement of the shaft is directly relatedto the thickness of the hardcopy media 115. Once the thickness of themedium is known, the system processing unit 270 may customize theconfiguration of the multi-feed detector 470 or sound jam detector 450to optimize their performance for that hardcopy media 115. For example,thicker hardcopy media 115 is known to produce more noise as it istransported through the media transport path 290. Therefore, knowing thethickness of the medium, the system processing unit 270 may dynamicallyadjust the sensitivity of the multi-feed detector 470 or sound jamdetector 450. The system processing unit 270 may also classify or sorthardcopy media 115 based on the thickness of the media.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C are views illustrating various metallicobjects attached to a hardcopy medium. In FIG. 5A, hardcopy medium 500contains staple 510 that is attached vertically to the hardcopy medium500. FIG. 5B illustrates a hardcopy medium 520 that contains staple 530attached horizontally to the hardcopy medium 520. The width of thestaple is defined as the distance between the two legs that punchthrough the hardcopy medium and is sometimes referred to as the crown.The gauge of the staple is referred as the diameter of the metal thestaple is made from. FIG. 5C illustrates a hardcopy medium 540 withmetallic foil 550 attached to it. The edge that is parallel to thelead-edge of the hardcopy medium is referred to as the width of thefoil, while the edge that is perpendicular to the lead-edge is referredto as the height.

Hardcopy medium 540 in FIG. 5C may represent a check with metallic foil550. Using image acquisition units 230 and 234 with the inductionsensors 215, the system processing unit 270 can configure the imagecontroller 440 to identify checks for special processing, such asextracting the check information in order to process the checkselectronically. The system processing unit may also configure thenetwork controller 490 to send captured images of the checks or theextracted check information to network interface 445 for distribution tovarious recipients. In addition, the system processing unit 270 mayissue a command to sort the checks into an alternate output tray, thusseparating them from the normal output hardcopy media 150 in the outputtray 190.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C illustrate example waveforms from the fielddetection unit 432 acquired from hardcopy media containing variousmetallic objects as shown in FIG. 5A-C. The graph 600, which is shown inFIG. 6A, illustrates the output waveform 610 from the field detectionunit 432 when hardcopy medium 500 is transported past the inductionsensor 215. In this configuration, staple 510 is positioned parallel tothe transport direction as indicted by arrow A4. At time T1, thedisturbance in the magnetic field caused by staple 510 has been detectedand the output of the field detection unit 432 changes state indicatingthe presence of a metallic object. At time T2, the staple 510 passesthrough the magnetic field and the output of the field detection unit432 changes its state back it normal state. Time 0 corresponds to themachine controller 430 activating the transport driver unit 465 toactivate the urging roller 120 to pull the top hardcopy medium 117towards the feed roller 223 and the separator roller 220. Timer unit 480can be used to determine time delay TD1, which represents the time fromactivating the transport driver unit 465 to the change in the output ofthe field detection unit 432 indicating the presence of a metallicobject. In addition, Timer unit 480 can be used to determine theduration the metal object is within the field, as represented in FIG. 6Aas TD2. Since the staple 510 is positioned parallel to the transportdirection as indicted by arrow A4, the width of staple 510 isrepresented by the duration of TD2.

The time delays can be converted to distances using the speed thetransport driver unit 465 drives the motors by the formula shown below.

distance=TimeDelay*TransportSpeed

Using the speed the transport driver unit 465 drives the motors, thelocation of the staple from the lead-edge of the hardcopy medium can becalculated from TD1, and the physical width of the staple can becalculated from TD2. The thickness or diameter of the staple 510 will berelated to the intensity.

The graph 620, which is shown in FIG. 6B, illustrates the outputwaveform 630 from the field detection unit 432 when hardcopy medium 520is transported past the induction sensor 215. In this configuration,staple 530 is positioned perpendicular to the transport direction asindicted by arrow A4. At time T3, the disturbance in the magnetic fieldcaused by staple 530 has been detected and the output of the fielddetection unit 432 changes state indicating the presence of a metallicobject. At time T4, the staple 530 passes through the magnetic field andthe output of the field detection unit 432 changes its state back itnormal state. Time 0 corresponds to the machine controller 430activating the transport driver unit 465 to activate the urging roller120 to pull the top hardcopy medium 117 towards the feed roller 223 andthe separator roller 220. Timer unit 480 can be used to determine timedelay TD3, which represents the time from activating the transportdriver unit 465 to the change in the output of the field detection unit432 indicating the presence of a metallic object. In addition, Timerunit 480 can be used to determine the duration the metal object iswithin the field as represented in FIG. 6B as TD4. Since the staple 530was positioned perpendicular to the transport direction as indicted byarrow A4, the pulse width TD4 is much narrower than the width TD2. Basedon the narrow pulse we know the object passed through the field quickly.The width of the staple 530 is related to the intensity. In this casethe staple 530 was perpendicular to the transport direction so the fullwidth of the staple was in the field at the same time. The wider staple530 is, the larger the intensity. Using the speed the transport driverunit 465 drives the motors, the location of the staple from thelead-edge is calculated from TD3 using the formula below, and thethickness or diameter of the staple 530 will be related to theintensity.

The graph 640, which is shown in FIG. 6C, illustrates the outputwaveform 650 from the field detection unit 432 when hardcopy medium 540is transported past the induction sensor 215. In this configuration,hardcopy medium 540 contains metallic foil 550. At time T5, thedisturbance in the magnetic field caused by metallic foil 550 has beendetected and the output of the field detection unit 432 changes stateindicating the presence of a metallic object. At time T6, the metallicfoil 550 passes through the magnetic field and the output of the fielddetection unit 432 changes its state back it normal state. Since themetallic foil 550 is a uniform size and consistency, the lead-edge andtrail-edge will produce similar levels of intensity at the output of thefield detection unit 432. Time 0 corresponds to the machine controller430 activating the transport driver unit 465 to activate the urgingroller 120 to pull the top hardcopy medium 117 towards the feed roller223 and the separator roller 220.

Timer unit 480 is used to determine time delay TD5, which represents thetime from activating the transport driver unit 465 to the change instate of the output of the field detection unit 432 indicating thepresence of a metallic object. In addition, Timer unit 480 is used todetermine the duration the metallic foil 550 was within the field, asrepresented in FIG. 6C as TD6. The length of metallic foil 550 isrepresented by the duration of TD6. Using the speed the transport driverunit 465 drives the motors, the location of the metallic foil 550 iscalculated from TD5, and the physical length of the metallic foil 550 iscalculated from TD6. The width of the metallic foil 550 is related tothe intensity. The larger the intensity, the wider the metallic foil.

As seen in FIG. 6A, the longer the metallic object stays with the field,the longer the field will be disrupted. Waveform 620 illustrates themetallic object passing through the field quickly as represented by anarrow pulse, but the intensity of disruption to the field isconsiderably more than waveform 600. The intensity of the fielddisruption is directly related to the amount of the metal object underthe induction sensor 215, while the duration of the field disruption isdirectly related to the amount of time the metal object stays in thefield.

FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart of the process used to determine thepresence of metallic objects in the hardcopy media. The induction signal700 from induction 215 is processed in block 710, where the waveform forthe induction signal 700 is extracted. Blocks 720, 730, 740 and 750 testthe extracted waveform to determine if a metallic object is present.

Block 720 compares the maximum intensity of the detected waveforms to anintensity threshold T_(I1). If the maximum intensity is greater than theintensity threshold T_(I1), then processing continues to Block 760 wherea metal detection exception is indicated. If the maximum intensity isnot greater than the intensity threshold T_(I1), then the testing movesto block 730 which compares the maximum pulse width to a pulse widththreshold T_(P1).

Block 730 compares the maximum pulse width to the pulse width T_(P1). Ifthe maximum pulse width is greater than the pulse width thresholdT_(P1), then processing continues to Block 760 where a metal detectionexception is indicated. If the maximum pulse width is not greater thanthe pulse width threshold T_(P1), then the testing moves to block 740which compares the maximum intensity to the intensity threshold T_(P2).

Block 740 compares the maximum intensity to an intensity thresholdT_(I2). If the maximum intensity is less than the intensity thresholdT_(I2), then processing moves to block 770 to continue. If the maximumintensity is greater than the intensity threshold T_(I2), thenprocessing continues to Block 750, where block 750 compares the maximumpulse width to a pulse width threshold T_(P2). If the maximum pulsewidth is greater than the pulse width threshold T_(P2), then processingcontinues to Block 760 where a metal detection exception is indicated.If the maximum pulse width is not greater than the pulse width thresholdT_(P2), then process moves to block 770 to continue.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between an audio profile 800 captured atone of the microphones and the induction signal 810 captured by theinduction sensor 215. By combining the induction signal 810 with theaudio signal 800 captured at one or more of microphones 200 a, 200 b and200 c, false jams resulting from hardcopy media with embedded metallicmaterial can be avoided. Since most hardcopy media jams are the resultof multiple hardcopy media attached with a staple or paper clip, lowerloudness threshold can be used in the sound jam detection processingexecuted by the sound jam detector 450 when the audio profile 800 iscombined with the induction signal 810 output from the field detectionunit 432. Since the induction sensor 215 is mounted at upstream ofmicrophone 200 c, it will start to detect metallic objects before thetop hardcopy media starts to wrinkle when it is attached to the hardcopymedia below it. If the metal detector indicates that a metal object ispresent, but the audio processing does not detect a jam, the medium maybe allowed to continue along the transport path.

At time T9 in FIG. 8 the induction signal 810 starts to change state inresponse the detection of a metallic object by the induction sensor 215.At T9 the sound jam detection processing switches to lower thresholds toallow sound jam detection processing to detect hardcopy media jam with alower maximum loudness. As noted above, lower thresholds may benecessary as multiple sheets of media transported through the device maygenerate lower sound profiles as compared to single sheets. Thus, whenmultiple sheets are attached with a staple, paper clip, or othermetallic object, the sound thresholds can automatically be adjusted inresponse to the signal from the induction sensor to account for this.

If sound jam detection processing detects a sound jam when metallicdetection processing detects the presence of a metallic object, thenabnormality condition is issued. On the other hand, if the sound jamdetection processing does not detect a sound jam when metallic detectionprocessing detects the presence of a metallic object, then the tophardcopy media 117 might have an embedded magnetic strip or label. Bycombining the metallic detection processing with sound jam detectionprocessing, false abnormality conditions can be avoided.

Alternatively, the induction signal 810 could be combined with theultrasonic detection signal acquired from the ultrasonic detector 280.Since most hardcopy media multi-feeds are the result of multiplehardcopy media attached with a staple or paper clip, the thresholds usedin multi-feed detection processing executed by the multi-feed detector470 can be adjusted so as to change the sensitivity of multi-feeddetection. Different sensitivities may be necessary for multi-feeddetection processing, as multiple sheets of media transported pastultrasonic detector 280 may generate different ultrasonic detectionsignal profiles as compared to single sheets. Thus, when multiple sheetsare attached with a staple, paper clip, or other metallic object, themulti-feed sensitivity can automatically be adjusted in response to thesignal from the induction sensor to account for this.

Since the induction sensor 215 is mounted upstream of the ultrasonicdetector 280, the induction sensor 215 will start to detect metallicobjects before the top hardcopy media reaches the ultrasonic detector280. By combining the induction signal 810 with the output of theultrasonic detector 280, missed multi-feeds can be reduced by changingthe sensitivity of multi-feed detection. In addition, if the metaldetector indicates that a metal object is present, but the multi-feeddetection processing does not detect a multi-feed, then the top hardcopymedia 117 might have an embedded magnetic strip or label, and the mediummay be allowed to continue along the transport path. If the metaldetector does not indicate that a metal object is present, but themulti-feed detection processing does detect a multi-feed, then the tophardcopy media 117 might have a non-magnetic strip or label, and themedium may be allowed to continue along the transport path. In bothcases false multi-feeds can be reduced by combining the induction signal810 with the output of the ultrasonic detector 280. In addition, thesignal from the induction sensor, microphone sensors, and ultrasonicdetector may all be combined in the processing.

FIG. 9 is flowchart illustrating additional processing that may beperformed. Block 940 performs the sound detecting processing on theaudio output from the sound acquisition unit 420 to produce a loudness950 for signals from microphones 200 a, 200 b and 200 c. Concurrently,an induction signal 900 from the induction sensor 215 is processed inblock 910, where the waveform of the induction signal 900 is extracted.Block 920 tests the extracted waveform to determine if a metallic objectis present. If the extract waveform from block 910 exceeds a predefinedintensity threshold or duration threshold, then a YES condition isproduced and processing moves to block 960 where the loudness 950 atmicrophones 200 a, 200 b and 200 c can be checked. Block 960 tracks theloudness 950 over time to determine if the overall loudness isincreasing or decreasing. If the overall loudness 950 is increasing,then the waveform extracted from 910 represents a hardcopy media withmetal attached to it and processing moves to block 970 where a jam isissued. If the overall loudness 950 is not increasing then the waveformextracted from 910 may represent foil that is embedded into a hardcopymedia and processing continues with block 930. Hardcopy media withmetallic material, such as foil, can be of any form including, but notlimited to, checks, credit or debit cards, smartcards, or other hardcopymedia were data is embedded in magnetic strip or integrated circuit.

FIG. 10 shows the system with an induction sensor being mounted in theinput tray. As seen in FIG. 10, the induction sensor 1000 may be mountedin the input tray 110. By mounting the induction sensor 1000 in theinput tray 110, a larger induction sensor 1000 and field can be used tocheck all the hardcopy media 115 in the input tray 110 at once. Theoperator may be notified that that a problem exists with the hardcopymedia 115 in the input tray 110 by displaying a message in the operatordisplay 128 on the operator control panel 122. This allows the operatorto take action before the documents are transported into the device,thus avoiding jams and potential damage the hardcopy media or mediatransport device itself. This induction sensor in the input tray may beused in addition to the induction sensor mounted within the mediatransport system, as described above, or may be used instead of theinduction sensor mounted within the media transport system. Theinduction sensor 1000 may also be mounted in input side guides 130.

As shown in FIG. 11, metallic codes, such as barcodes, present onhardcopy media can be detected. Metallic material is used to createmetallic code 1100 in any form, including, but not limited to, foil ormetallic ink. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the metallic code may bea barcode 1100 comprising thick black lines 1110, 1120 and 1130 createdfrom thick metallic material spaced apart with nonmetallic gaps. Thinline 1140 is created using a thin metallic material. The barcode mayinclude unified spacing between the thick lines 1110, 1120 and 1130 andthin line 1140. Other barcode patterns may also be used, including codeswith varying thicknesses or spacing between lines.

Typically, when particular hardcopy media 115 requires specialprocessing or exception processing, a separator sheet with a patch codeor non-metallic barcode on it is placed in front of the hardcopy media115 that requires special processing. Special processing or exceptionprocessing may include, for example, enabling or disabling colorcapture, or performing a color dropout function where a specific colorin the document is removed.

When images of a separator sheet are captured by the acquisition units230 and 234, the images are passed to the system processing unit 270where the image controller 440 processes the captured images to decodethe patch code or barcode on the separator sheet. The decodedinformation from the patch code or barcode indicate that the hardcopymedia 115 following the separator sheet requires special processing, andthat the current configuration of the media transport system should beoverridden. However, use of the typical separator sheets requires manualinsertion of the separator sheet media in the stack of hardcopy media inthe input tray 110, as well as manual removal of the separator sheetfrom the output tray once it has passed through the media transportsystem. In addition, because the separator sheet must be imaged, thehardcopy media requiring special processing must pass through the mediatransport system and be imaged by the acquisition units 230 and 234before the instructions can even be read. Thus, it is not sufficient tosimply move the instructions to reconfigure the system to the hardcopymedia 115 requiring special processing to eliminate the separator sheetbecause the acquisition units cannot capture the instructions and bereconfigured themselves at the same time.

To avoid the manual insertion and removal required with typicalseparator sheets, and to allow for earlier detection of the encodedinstructions prior to the hardcopy media advancing to the acquisitionunits 230 and 235, the special instructions can instead be encodedwithin metallic codes placed on or embedded within the hardcopy mediarequiring special processing. These metallic codes may then be detectedby the induction sensors 215. The metallic codes can be in the form ofpatch codes, bar codes or any form suitable to encode information thatthe system processing unit 270 may use to modify or override the currentsystem configuration. For example, the metallic codes might containinformation indicating that the image controller 440 should configurethe job specification to enable or disable different image processingperformed on the captured images sent to the image processing unit 485.

Since the induction sensors 215 are located upstream of the acquisitionunits 230 and 234, the instructions encoded in the metallic codes can bedetected and decoded before the hardcopy media requiring specialprocessing reaches the acquisition units 230 and 234. Thus, the systemprocessing unit 270 and acquisition units can be correctly configured toachieve the required special processing indicated by encodedinstructions as the hardcopy media moves along the media transport path.This eliminates the need to insert a separator sheet media in front ofthe hardcopy media 115.

The metallic codes may also be used to support exception processing forspecial documents. For example, sometimes hardcopy media 115 needs to bescanned that is too wide to fit through the media transport path 290.The hardcopy media 115 could be folded in half and then put into a carrysheet that has a metallic code on it that would indicate to the systemprocessing unit 270 that the multi-feed detector 470 or sound jamdetector 450 should be disabled. In addition, image controller 440 couldconfigure the job specification to have the image processing unit 485electronically “unfold” the document and reassemble the document anddeliver the image to the network control 290 as if the hardcopy media115 was scanned through a media transport path 290 that was wide enoughto handle the wide hardcopy media.

FIG. 12 shows the output of the field detection unit 432 represented asa binary signal waveform 1210 when a barcode, such as that shown in FIG.11 is present. This waveform 1210 is used by the metallic detectionprocessing for barcode detection. At time T1, the start of line 1110 isdetected. At time T2 the end of line 1110 is detected. At time T3, thestart of line 1120 is detected. At time T4 the end of line 1120 isdetected. At time T5, the start of line 1130 is detected. At time T6 theend of line 1130 is detected. At time T7, the start of line 1140 isdetected. At time T8 the end of line 1140 is detected. Timer unitdetermines time delay TD1, which represents the time from activating thetransport driver unit 465 to the change in state of the output of thefield detection unit 432 indicating the presence of a metallic object.In addition, Timer unit 480 is used to determine the thickness of themetal object barcode lines where TD2, TD4, TD6 and TD8 represent thethickness of the black lines 1110, 1120, 1130 and 1140. The spacingbetween the lines is represented by TD3, TD5 and TD7. Having the abilityto detect barcodes generates many different options for what can be donewith the hardcopy media. The barcode could tell the system processingunit 270 where the hardcopy should go in applications where sorting thehardcopy media to multiple output trays is desired. The barcodes couldalso determine the image processing performed by the image controller440, and where the network controller 490 sends final images.

FIG. 13 illustrates the system with multiple induction sensors 1310A-Fpositioned across the width of the media transport path 290. Inductionsensors 1310A-F allow more flexibility for detection of metallicmaterial with the ability to have detection “zones” that can beindividually turned on and off. Monitoring different detection zones mayprovide a detection location within the media transport systemindicating where a metallic object is presently located. In addition,having multiple zones allow some induction sensors 1310A-F to beallocated for detection of barcodes while others are used for stapledetection. As an example, FIG. 13 shows a staple 1320 located in theupper left corner of top hardcopy medium 117 and a barcode pattern 1130using metallic material on the right side of top hardcopy medium 117.Induction sensors 1310A-C could be configured for staple detection whileinduction sensors 1301D-F could be configured for barcode detection.

FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration of the system where the location ofthe metallic object can be determined. In FIG. 14 induction sensors1400, 1410, 1420, and 1430 are positioned across the width of the mediatransport path 290. Induction sensors 1400 and 1410 are arranged to forman angle θ₁ and induction sensors 1420 and 1430 are arranged to form anangle θ₂. When the transport driver unit 465 enables the urging rollers120 and the feed rollers 223 to feed the top hardcopy medium 117, a tophardcopy medium 117 containing staple 1440 is pulled into the mediatransport path 290. Staple 1440 will pass induction sensor 1400 atlocation A after time delay TDT1 and then pass metal detector 1410 atlocation B after a delay TDT2.

Timer unit 480 is used to determine time delay TDT1, which representsthe time from activating the transport driver unit 465 to enable thefeed module 225 to feed the top hardcopy medium 117 to when staple 1440crosses induction sensor 1400. Timer unit 480 is also used to determinetime delay TDT2. Using the speed the transport driver unit 465 drivesthe motors, the location of the staple 1240 from the lead-edge of tophardcopy medium 117 is calculated from TDT1 and the distance betweenpoints A and B is calculated from TDT2.

FIG. 15 shows the right triangle formed when staple 1440 crossesinduction sensors 1400 and 1410. The length of the segment AB, labeled Yis the distance between points A and B calculated from TDT2. The angleθ₁ formed by induction sensors 1400 and 1410, as seen in FIG. 14, isrepresented by θ in FIG. 15. The value X represents the location of thestaple 1440 on the top hardcopy media 117 relative to the center of themedia transport path 290. Using the formula below, the length of X canbe calculated.

$X = \frac{Y}{\tan^{- 1}(\theta)}$

Sometimes, the lead-edge of top hardcopy media 117 might be pre-stagedunder the urging roller 120, or the urging roller 120 may spin on thetop hardcopy media 117 before the top hardcopy media 117 begins to move.These two conditions would add error to the above calculations of thelocation of staple 1440. As seen in FIG. 16, media sensor 1600 may beadded between induction sensors 1400 and 1420 and feed roller 223. Mediasensor 1600 may provide more accurate location of the lead-edge byeliminating any error introduced by pre-staging or urging roller 120spinning from the calculation to determine the location of staple 1440.In FIG. 16, the time delay TD1 is now measured from media sensor 1600 towhen staple 1440 crosses induction sensor 1400.

Induction sensors 1420 and 1430 would function the same as inductionsensors 1400 and 1410 if staple 1440 was located on the left side of thetop hardcopy media 117. In addition, the exact positions of theinduction sensors are not critical to locating staple 1440 as long asthe induction sensors 1400 and 1420 are perpendicular to transportdirection as shown by A4 and induction sensors 1410 and 1430 form afixed angle in relation to induction sensors 1400 and 1420.

1. A system for detecting metallic objects in media to be input into amedia transport system, comprising: an input tray configured to hold themedia to be fed into the media transport system; one or more rollersconfigured to convey the media from the input tray and along a mediumtransport path, the one or more rollers driven by one or more motors;one or more induction sensors positioned proximate to the mediumtransport path, wherein the one or more induction sensors are configuredto detect a presence of metallic material and output a metallicdetection signal; and a processing unit in communication with the one ormore induction sensors, the processing unit configured to receive themetallic detection signal and determine, based on the metallic detectionsignal, whether the media contains a metallic object and a location ofthe metallic object on the media.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theone or more induction sensors are disposed across a width of the mediumtransport path, thereby establishing zones for detection of metallicobjects in the media.
 3. The system of claim 2, further comprising: atleast two induction sensors disposed at an angle with respect to eachother, with the processing unit configured to determine the location ofthe metallic object, based on the positioning of the at least twoinduction sensors relative to the media transport path.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a timer unit configured to determine atleast two time delay values, with the processing unit configured todetermine a location of the metallic object with respect to a lead-edgeof the media and based on the at least two time delay values.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising: a preparation station having asensing arm, the sensing arm including one or more induction sensorsproviding signals which generate an alert when a metallic object isfound in the media.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: aninterface providing at least one of system configuration information andnotices of metallic object detection.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe media transport system includes a lower media guide and an uppermedia guide, and wherein at least one of the one or more inductionsensors is mounted on the lower media guide or the upper media guide. 8.A system for detecting metallic objects in media to be input into amedia transport system, comprising: an input tray configured to hold themedia to be fed into the media transport system; one or more rollersconfigured to convey the media from the input tray and along a mediumtransport path, the one or more rollers driven by one or more motors; aplurality of induction sensors positioned proximate to the mediumtransport path, wherein the induction sensors have differingsensitivities for detecting a presence of metallic material and theinduction sensors are configured to output a metallic detection signal;and a processing unit in communication with the induction sensors, theprocessing unit configured to receive the metallic detection signal anddetermine whether the media contains a metallic object, and theprocessing unit further configured to determine the location of themetallic object on the media, based on the metallic detection signal. 9.The system of claim 8, further comprising: a position jam detectorconfigured to receive information regarding the location of the metallicobject and determine whether a positional jam of the media has occurredalong the medium transport path.
 10. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising: at least one microphone located along the medium transportpath, the at least one microphone configured to detect a sound of themedium being transported and produce a sound signal representing thesound of the media.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processingunit is configured to analyze the sound signal and indicate a presenceof a metallic object in the media based on the sound signal and themetallic detection signal.
 12. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising: a multi-feed detector having a detection sensitivitydynamically optimized, by the processing unit, based on a thickness ofthe media.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more rollersare mounted on shafts and the plurality of induction sensors areconfigured to detect displacement of the shafts.
 14. The system of claim13, wherein the displacement of the shafts is utilized by the processingunit to determine media location information.
 15. A system for detectingmetallic objects in media to be input into a media transport system,comprising: an input tray configured to hold the media to be fed intothe media transport system; one or more rollers configured to convey themedia from the input tray and along a medium transport path, the one ormore rollers driven by one or more motors; one or more induction sensorspositioned proximate to the medium transport path, wherein the one ormore induction sensors are configured to detect presence of metallicmaterial and output a metallic detection signal; an ultrasonic detectorconfigured to output an ultrasonic detection signal; and a processingunit configured to receive the metallic detection signal and theultrasonic detection signal and determine whether the media contains ametallic object, the processing unit further configured to determine thelocation of the metallic object on the media based on the metallicdetection signal and the ultrasonic detection signal.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, further comprising: at least one microphone located along themedium transport path, the at least one microphone configured to detecta sound of the medium being transported and produce a sound signalrepresenting the sound of the media.
 17. The system of claim 16, whereinthe processing unit is configured to analyze the sound signal andindicate a presence of a metallic object in the media based on at leastone of the sound signal, the metallic detection signal, and theultrasonic detection signal.
 18. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: a timer unit configured to determine at least two time delayvalues; the processing unit configured to determine a location of themetallic object with respect to a lead-edge of the media calculated andthe at least two time delay values.
 19. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: a preparation station having a sensing arm, the sensing armincluding one or more induction sensors providing signals which generatean alert when a metallic object is found in the media.
 20. The system ofclaim 15, further comprising: an interface providing at least one ofsystem configuration information and notices of metallic objectdetection.